South Sudan’s caretaker minister for East African Community Affairs, Michael Makuei Lueth, has warned that drafting a constitution for a proposed East African Community political confederation will be a lengthy process, drawing on his country’s own difficulties in completing a permanent constitution.
Speaking on Thursday at the launch of national consultations on the proposed confederation in Juba, Makuei urged constitutional experts not to underestimate the task.
“Constitution making is not an event, it is a process,” Makuei said. “It will take time.”
The consultations are intended to gather the views of South Sudanese on key issues, including how the proposed confederation would be funded, how its constitution should be adopted and the areas of cooperation among member states.
Makuei, a former justice minister, cited South Sudan’s experience in drafting a permanent constitution, saying the country had struggled to complete the process within the timelines set under its revitalised peace agreement.
“Because here in South Sudan we were expected to come up with our permanent constitution before we go for elections. But we found it difficult to complete the process within such a period,” he said.
He said the peace agreement had been extended twice in an effort to allow the constitutional process to be completed, but the government eventually removed the permanent constitution requirement from the conditions for holding elections.
Makuei said the EAC process should begin with broad consultations involving communities and other stakeholders before their views are harmonised into an initial draft.
“That zero draft will be the beginning of another consultation,” he said.
The consultations are part of EAC efforts to establish a political confederation as a transitional model towards the bloc’s longer-term goal of political federation.
EAC Secretary-General Stephen Patrick Mbundi said the constitution could not be developed by governments and experts alone and called for the views of citizens across member states to be reflected in the process.
Mbundi said South Sudan is the fifth EAC partner state to hold the consultations, after Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. The consultations in South Sudan are expected to continue for two weeks in Juba, Rumbek, Wau and Bor.
The constitutional experts are expected to examine different models of confederation, review the EAC Treaty and protocols, gather public views and prepare a draft constitution based on the agreed model.
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